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Students call for change after racially charged post

Posted at 11:40 PM, Feb 13, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-14 10:00:32-05

OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KGTV) - A social media post of a photo taken by a student at an Oceanside high school ignited fury among some students.

"As I understood it from the dinner table last night, one of the boys was horsing around and did the Hitler salute," described Todd Maddison, whose daughters go to El Camino High School.

He also understands that the image made mention of Black History Month.

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"It was a mockery of black history month," student Drako Alva said. "It was a picture with discriminatory body language on a black history filter."

Alva was one of two students that went to the school board meeting Tuesday and addressed board members.

He said he doesn't want to dwell on the post but would like to see faculty do more to address actions that encourage hate.

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"There needs to be more done for specific racism," he said. "It should be held to the same level of bullying and harassment."

In a statement, the Oceanside Unified School District said:

"We are aware of the situation, and the students involved have been disciplined appropriately.

The school is using this as an opportunity to have forums with students to allow them to discuss what a safe learning environment is and how we can move forward."